Scribes protest over govt's inaction

Hyderabad, Feb 14 (INN): Members of the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ), on Monday staged a silent dharna in the chamber of Information and Public Relation Commissioner C Partha Sarathi, seeking the implementation of a GO which had been issued to compensate scribes for the losses they had suffered last year during the height of the separate statehood agitations.

The scribes' other demands were that the government solve their other long pending demands and also set up the accreditation committee forthwith. Indian Journalists Union General Secretary K Srinivas Reddy pointed out that the total neglect of the media was reflected by the fact that no action has been taken to compensate the journalists who were caned and valuable equipment damaged by security personnel in the Osmania University campus during the height of the statehood agitation.

Mr Reddy said that Monday was the first anniversary of the unsavory incidents which shocked the journalist fraternity leading to an outcry. The then chief minister K Rosaiah had had assured the media that the damages caused to the equipment would be compensated.

The equipment, including cameras and Outdoor Broadcasting vans, where damaged when police turned into vandals and attacked the media persons, even assaulting them physically. Mr Rosaiah had even assured that the journalists who had been physically assaulted would be given monitory compensation.

Former APUWJ chairman D Amar pointed out that despite the fact that it has been one year since the assurance was made, the government was yet to take any decision towards solving the journalists' problems. 'It has been exactly a year since the announcement was made by the government to give compensation and solve other problems of the journalists, unfortunately any initiative is yet to be taken. Now we have decided to bring pressure and implement the GO issued in this connection. Besides this, we are demanding that the Accreditation Committee should also be set up,' revealed Mr Amar.

The protesting journalists also seek a SB-CID probe into lathicharge on journalists in OU campus. The CID report should be handed over to the Centre and not the state government for action to be taken, the journalists demand. The APUWJ members also warned that if the government does not concede to their demands, their agitations would continue in different forms.